How We Rise
by ThisIsForMe34234
Summary: The 100 are born on the ground. When the Sky People and Mountain Men walk the ground, the 12 clans must come together to defeat their enemies. In doing so, however, the 100 face growing drifts between each other, while finding their true loves. (Alpha/Omega/Beta story)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the dimly-lighted command center, the council stood around a large, rounded table, each facing a dark-haired man that stood in between Abby Griffin and Marcus Kane. The atmosphere was tense, but there was a hint of something else, something that was extremely rare in the Ark: hope. After 1000 years stuck in the floating metal prison in space, this might finally be their chance to truly _live_ \- not just survive.

"Well?" Jaha, the chancellor, said. "Give us the update."

Trying to keep his cool, Jacapo Sinclair, lead engineer of the Ark, nodded. This happened at least once a year since he was promoted; however, this meeting was different. After revealing the information he learned last night, the lives of every Arker would change. In a good way, he hoped. In many bad ways too, though, the man knew. There was no truly good way this situation could turn out.

"The atmospheric dust cloud has receded by 98.62 percent," Sinclair started, "so enough sunlight can get through to the ground to cultivate cro- "

"You told us this _seven_ years ago," Kane interrupted, slamming his hands onto the metallic table. "Enough of that shit! What of the radiation levels? Is it safe for us to go home?"

Abby sighed, and rubbed Kane's back soothingly, trying to calm him down. They were all stressed, yes, but yelling at their people's only hope would do no good. And so she whispered an apology for her friend's outburst, hoping to get him to continue his report.

Sinclair, however, was pissed. "The chancellor asked me to give an update," he said lowly. "So that is what I intend to do."

Before Kane could respond, Jaha spoke up: "enough of this." The dark-skinned man looked at Sinclair. "Please, my friend - your report?"

Sinclair pursed his lips, but nodded. "As I was saying…" he narrowed his eyes, briefly glancing at Kane. "While the dust cloud is practically gone, there is still the matter of the change in weather patterns." He pulled up a hologram of the meteorological conditions on Earth. "It's cold," he said, motioning toward every continent. " _Really, really_ cold. It's pretty much always winter, rarely getting above 32 degrees Fahrenheit."

Jaha cringed at that thought. "Why are you telling us this?"

Before Sinclair was promoted, the Ark's engineers would only check the radars for information on Earth's surface once every hundred years to preserve power; however, since it's recently gotten closer to the estimated time their ancestors predicted they would be able to go to the ground, monthly checks of the radars were put in place.

"Because the radiation levels have dropped dramatically: it's finally safe for us to go down to the ground."

The cheering erupted.

"But only in the land of the Americas."

Silence.

"Why?" Abby asked. "The plan has always been for us to land in Berlin. You know…go back to where we left."

"I know, Abby…The air is safe," Sinclair said, "but not the soil. We'd never be able to grow crops anywhere else – even with the use of green houses."

Abby frowned. "Then why are the Americas any different?"

"Because most of the bombs landed where the younger populations were: Asia and Africa," he said. "Thus, most of the radiation in the ground is stuck there. Europe is right next to the two, so the soil won't be safe to use for _at least_ another 500 years. The Americas are our only shot at farming."

Jaha nodded at this new information, silently glad that Sinclair never told him and his fellow council members about this before. It would have made him dread going down to the ground for years. But it was necessary to leave the Ark at this point. Even with their one-child and strict rationing policies, the Ark had a severe shortage of food, oxygen and medicine. In 6 months, if they stayed in space, the 2,400-people living on the Ark would die.

Jaha turned to Kane. "Will the seeds we have stored be enough to sustain the population?" The dark-haired man oversaw rationing.

Kane, thankfully, nodded. "If people want nothing but cucumbers, potatoes, and pumpkins," he joked. That was rare. He's defiantly happy to hear that they can leave this metal prison. "We have things like carrots and Brussel sprouts in smaller quantities, but, uh, not enough…"

Abby smiled, tilting her head slightly. "We have fruits too, right? Some of us do have a sweet tooth."

Kane chuckled. "Of course," he said. "We've got figs, plums, pears, cherries, apples – you name it!" He winked. "Made sure to save the figs especially for you." He rubbed his head awkwardly. "It will just be a while before the trees grow."

Abby laughed.

Jaha coughed. "Anyhow," he started, raising his voice. "We'll need to start evacuating the people as soon as possible."

Kaplan stepped forward. "I can lead the evacuation process, Chancellor."

Fuji raised her chin. "And I'll insure everything we need gets aboard the dropships."

Jaha smiled. "Good. _Both_ of you shall start immediately." He turned to Abby. "Make sure the medical center is cleared of all patients within the next week. We'll leave as soon as it's done."

Abby dropped her head briefly. "It will be done."

"Good." He looked back at Sinclair. "Where do you recommend we land?"

The man frowned, not expecting such a question. "The former land of Virginia?" he suggested. "There's a military base in Mount Weather. The supplies wouldn't be any good at this point, but we could use it to hold out in when the weather gets too bad. It's run on renewable energy, so we would certainly be able to get electricity in there." When people gave him a questioning look, looking at what was all around them, Sinclair sighed. "Plus, the land is relatively flat in the northern area and the soil is full of nutrients."

"Are there animals that have survived which we could hunt?" Fuji asked. She was always good at shooting with her rifle.

He swallowed nervously. "I don't know."

The woman looked stunned, her grey eyes crumbling together in confusion. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"The cameras broke 378 years ago," Sinclair said as if it were obvious. "What it's like on the ground, I don't know…I doubt we would even know if they were still functional. It's always winter, remember? The clouds never go away…"

The council looked concerned once more.

Cole, having previously been quiet, spoke up: "It doesn't matter. Our job is to ensure the survival of the human race. Going back to Earth is the only way to do so."

* * *

 **The rest of the story will be a lot better!**  
 **I just wanted to give people a proper idea of how it is on Earth in my story...  
And give you an indication of the role the sky people will play.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Deep in the catacombs of Mount Weather, 100 "grounder" prisoners were kept in cold, metal cages. In one of those cages, a teenager with light brown skin and curly dark hair fell back-first onto the floor. Octavia Kom Trikru. She was hissing in pain, her hazel eyes crumbling together. To the side of her, a similar-looking boy reached through the metal bars that separated them and rubbed Octavia's back, trying to make her feel better. It pained Bellamy to see his sister in pain.

In the cage left of Octavia, there was an 18-year old girl, whom was a near-spitting image of her mother: she had long, blonde hair with black roots, and an oval face. Her eyes were almond-shaped, but shinned a blue hue brighter than the ocean. This was the former second of Nyko : Clarke Kom Trikru, a woman well known for being headstrong, determined, dependable, and intelligent in spite of her young age.

"It's your first heat," Clarke said, her eyes widening. She had her first one in these cold cages as well. Why? Because Omegas would begin to get their heats the moment they turned 16; same with Alphas and their ruts. Betas were lucky since they got neither.

Octavia rolled onto her stomach, pulling her knees to her chest. "It hurts," she said, tears threatening to pour from her eyes. "So bad…"

To the other side of Clarke, Raven huffed. "Try having a rut. That shit is unbelievably painful."

Octavia cried out in pain.

Clarke glared at Raven. "Not helping!"

The 19-year old Alpha shrugged. It's not like she was trying to help, anyway.

" _Ste yuj_ (stay strong)," Clarke whispered to Octavia. "Remember what your mother taught you. Use it to your advantage."

Octavia huffed, finally letting a tear fall. "What my mother taught me?" She laughed bitterly. "She'd be so ashamed of me – look at me! Captured! Crying! I'm weaker than the mountain men are!"

Clarke shook her head. "Indra would be proud." She meant every word.

Octavia seemed to believe her, yet look doubtful at the same time.

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "You're yet to break," Clarke said. "That's more than a lot of warriors can say after being captured by the mountain men."

A small smile appeared on her face, and Octavia momentarily forgot about the pain she was in. "Anya would be proud of you too," she proclaimed.

That caused something to break inside of Clarke. Anya. Her mother. She hasn't thought about her in a long time. Clarke lowered her head. Because it was too painful. Since her father died not too long after she was born, it was always just Clarke and her mother; her mother, the woman that gave birth to her, meant everything to her. She never forgot the devastated look on Anya's face as she was beaten into unconsciousness and dragged away by several reapers.

"I hope she's okay," Clarke murmured to herself.

Octavia smiled weakly. "Your mother is the toughest woman I know," she said. "I'm sure she's holding up."

Clarke looked away, trying not think about the pain she knew her mother was in. "And what about Lexa? Her sister, Costia, died in the attack and the only people she has left are all broken themselves…Indra, my mother, Gustus…"

Raven scoffed. "My father couldn't care less about what happened to me," she muttered. "His first objective has always been to protect his dear Heda."

Clarke raised an eyebrow at her. "He's just afraid to lose you like your mother. You're as reckless as she was, if you don't recall?"

Raven shook her head. "Whatever."

"It's true!"

Raven pursed her lips. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Clarke. You know my father is even colder than Queen Nia."

Clarke frowned. Gutus was actually quite nice to her. Did he act differently around Raven? "I'm sure he'd be happy to see you again."

Bellamy laughed, finally speaking up for the first time that day. "We'd have a better chance of getting out of here!"

Everyone agreed with him - especially Raven.

Clarke decided to let the Gustus subject drop. She'll talk about it with Raven later. "Come on, guys. We'll get out of here eventually."

Laughter echoed throughout the metal room.

Across from her, Wells Kom Floukru, the former second of the leader of his clan, shook his head. "Honestly, Clarke," he said, "you need to stop having such delusions. We're dying in here – just like thousands of our ancestors did."

Clarke grimaced. "Don't say that."

He sighed. "It's true. You're foolish if you think otherwise."

Before she could protest, Wells turned his back on her and leaned against the metal bars for comfort.

Clarke groaned in frustration. Was she really the only one that still had hope? Was she truly the strongest of them all?

"He's right, you know?"

Clarke slowly turned to Raven. "What makes you think that?"

She rolled her grey eyes. "We've been stuck here for 2 years, Clarke," she said. "That's not going to change."

"But Lexa would never- "

Raven sighed, leaning back against the wall. "Just let it go, Clarke," she interrupted. "We're never getting out of here."

Clarke sighed. Why did she have to become the leader of the 100? Be the one that speaks to Dante Wallace when he comes to speak with them about their way of life? Be the one that gives people hope? Be the one that willingly offers herself up for torture so no one else would have to go through it? She may be the daughter of the Trikru leader, but she's not a leader herself, nor is she even an Alpha! She's an Omega – a being meant to submit to an Alpha! And she's tired. So tired of being the rock. Sick of never thinking about herself. When will someone be there for her? When someone attempt to, at the very least, understand?

And so Clarke did the only thing she could think of: sing. Attempt to bring joy in a place that destroys happiness by singing the song of her people. _All_ her people.

 _Yumi na teik  
Won sonraun au?  
Medo ste thonken  
Medo drein au_

A few people looked at her strangely. None have heard that song since the night they were captured, and Clarke was singing it as if she was filled with…hope. Hope! How could she still feel that way? Everyone there has been trapped in those cold, metal cages for over 2 years, according to the mountain men that would constantly tease them about their people's failed rescue attempts. It didn't matter though, for they knew they would never get out of the mountain from the moment they awoke after the mountain men's attack.

To each side of her, Octavia and Raven rolled their eyes. They had felt that way too, never quite understanding how Clarke could believe they would get out this impenetrable fortress. Their people tried to get them out; their people failed. Their people tried again; their people failed once more. And it's not like the mountain men were going to let them go. They were hostages to them, after all; a message to their people: "don't kill our people, and we won't kill yours."

Clarke, nevertheless, continued. She was determined to get a few people smiling today.

 _Oso kik raun  
Ogeda, soulou  
Ai laik yu gona  
Ai na get raun, you_

To Clarke's joy she heard a few more voices join her in song. Echo Kom Azgeda, Lilian Kom Trishankru, and Prince Murphy Kom Sankru, she believed. She couldn't see them since she was on the bottom level of cages, but she recognized their voices after talking to them in order to keep her sanity.

 _Yumi na teik  
Won sonraun au?_

Bellamy, whom was caged next to his sister, began to sing along with them.

 _Ai keryon gyon op  
Ai keryon g' breik au_

A few from the Delphi and Lake People clans joined them.

 _Pas skaikrasha_

The body guards Murphy's father assigned to his son and Queen Nia of Azgeda's top assassin, Ontari Kom Azgeda, all whom were captured that fateful day as well, began to sing too.

 _Klin tristraka  
En houd don gon  
Hosh trashsaka_

The rest of the prisoners began to sing too.

Raven and Octavia exchanged looks. At this point, they were the only ones not singing.

 _Yumi na teik  
Won sonraun au?  
Houd na fleim daun  
Bed' ge jok au_

Finally, Raven and Octavia joined the song.

 _Ai nou fir raun  
Ai mana jomp in  
Ai mana wan op  
Ai don sin y'in_

 _Yumi na teik_  
 _Won sonraun au?_  
 _Jus drein jus daun_  
 _Ai medo drein au_

Cheers erupted from their mouths the moment their song ended. "Down with the mountain men!" they cried in their native language, Trigedasleng. "Down with the mountain men!" It was the happiest the 100 prisoners have been in years. And it was thanks to Clarke. The spoiled prisa many of them, especially the prisoners from Sankru and Azgeda, hated before their capture.

" _Oso nan out teik de maunon win au_ (we will not let the mountain men win)!" Clarke shouted. " _Ste yuj_ (stay strong)! _Oso souda set raun ogeda taim oso na teik maunon daun_ (we must stand together if we hope to overthrow the mountain)!"

Octavia smiled at her friend. "Maybe, you're right, Clarke," she whispered. "Maybe...one day…we'll win."

Clarke smirked at her. "All it takes is a few of us to be strong," she said. "When one of the guards come to check on us, we can overwhelm them and take the keys."

Octavia pursed her lips. "A guard comes once a month – if we're lucky," she said. "Even then, it's only to take one of us for questioning about our clans."

Raven added: "And they always electrocute us to keep us from fighting back. How do you expect us to get past that?"

Clarke pursed her lips. "I don't know…"

"Clarke!" Octavia whined.

Clarke waved her off. "Oh, shut up! I'll figure it out eventually!"

Her fellow Omega huffed, her hands suddenly wrapped around her stomach due to a stabbing pain from her heat. "How do you expect to do that?" she muttered, in between gasps.

"With my help," an unfamiliar voice suddenly said.

Snarls immediately erupted throughout the room, as a woman ran towards Clarke's cage and began to unlock it. She has short, dark, frizzy hair and unusually pale skin. To Clarke, she looked kind, but, then again, Dante Wallace seemed kind before his father died. So what was this girl's motivation? Get Clarke to escape so the mountain men can practice shooting their guns at someone?

"Stay away from our _prisa_!" Raven hissed.

The girl glanced at Raven and rolled her eyes, before going back to unlocking the cage.

As soon as the mysterious girl opened the cage, Clarke, will all her strength, launched forward, knocking the girl to the ground. They landed with a loud thud. Quickly, Clarke then punched the girl a few times, whom didn't even bother to fight back. It was almost as if she felt like she deserved what was happening to her.

That made Clarke even more suspicious. "Who are you!? Why are you doing this!?" Clarke demanded, squeezing her hands tightly around the girl's throat. She seemed slightly dazed at this point. "Come to kill me? Come to try and get us to fall into some trap!?"

Everyone looked at the scene with excitement. Time to watch Clarke kill one of their captors!

"Kill," the mountain girl chocked. "People…help…out…"

Clarke narrowed her eyes and released her hold. "What the hell are you talking about!?" she hissed.

The girl rolled onto her stomach, gasping for air. "They're going to kill all of you," the girl said, coughing. She looked at Clarke, wiping a bit of the blood off her face and the blonde felt a twinge of guilt for her actions. "You need to get out of here."

Clarke could sense nothing but truthfulness coming from her. "Why?" she questioned, getting back onto her feet and helping the girl up. "What changed?"

She rolled her eyes, clearly hoping to avoid the question. "I'm Maya by the way," she said.

Clarke raised her chin, trying to look as intimidating as Lexa does when she's in Heda-mode. "Well, Maya…why are your people trying to kill us now?"

Maya swallowed. "Because you're of no use anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Maya really looked like she didn't want to talk about it. "I'm sorry! I would only take the infusion when I needed it! I would hate myself whenever I did!"

Clarke narrowed her eyes, taking a threatening step forward. "What are you talking about?" she asked lowly.

The mountain girl, probably around 16 or 17, swallowed nervously once more. "My people…they'd take you and your people into another room and drain you of your blood," she said. She looked at the ground. "It would happen every month."

Clarke didn't even have a chance to feel her emotions, when her two friends began to snarl.

"Impossible!" Octavia shrieked. "We would have remembered it!"

" _Nou wich em op, Klark_ (don't trust her, Clarke)," Raven growled, reaching out to hit the girl. "She's the one that tortured me!"

Maya took a step away from the cage and looked as if Raven punched her. "I had no choice! I had to prove my worth! They were going to kill my parents if I didn't!"

Clarke eyed Maya carefully, remembering all too well a bloodied Raven being dragged back into her cage by Emerson. "Is that true?"

Maya nodded. "Yes!"

Raven didn't like where this was going. She had long fantasized about killing the girl. " _Frag em op en dison laik odon_ (kill her and be done with it)," she hissed, hoping Clarke would not listen to the girl. There was something else going on here. There had to be!

Clarke, however, looked like she was going along with the idea.

Raven wanted to get super strength and rip the metal bars that kept her in this cage. " _Klark, du nou laik ostir kru_ (Clarke, she's not one of us)!" she cried. "These filthy mountain men are not to be trusted!" Damn this world. The moment Clarke let her out of this cage, she was going to strangle the filthy liar to death.

Clarke ignored Raven, instead crossing her arms and looking down at the girl that freed her. "Why don't we remember that happening?"

Maya sighed. "Because the 'electrocution' you all would experience never happen," she started. "The guards would really gas the room and give you a false memory, so you wouldn't remember the truth."

Clarke nodded. "The truth?" she hissed, harsher than she meant to.

Maya flinched. "Your blood is medicine for my people," she explained. "We weren't able to go outside without the suits I'm sure you've seen, due to all the radiation in the air from the Great War. It's a poison to us…"

"Because your ancestors did not build up a tolerance for it?" Clarke guessed. She had a limited knowledge of science, but her ancestors passed down knowledge about the effects of the bombs that were dropped and what happened afterwards.

Maya merely inclined her head in response.

Clarke sighed. "And ours did."

It all made sense. That's why her people have been terrorized by the mountain men for over 1,000 years. Because the they need her people to survive. Because they needed their blood. Clarke narrowed her eyes. Instead of letting a few hundred people die, the mountain men took the lives of thousands! As soon as she sees another-

Clarke's eyes widened. "What changed!?" she shrieked, terror suddenly filling her heart. "Why do they not need our blood anymore?"

"Because the radiation levels are back to pre-war levels," Maya hesitantly said. "We can live on the ground now."

Clarke staggered back.

"That's why you need to get out of here while you still can!" Maya said. "Everyone is getting ready to move into the forest, so they're distracted for now. Leave while you can. Please!"

" _We're_ getting out of here," Clarke responded.

Maya nodded. "Yes! Get your people and leave!"

Clarke shook her head. "I shall, but you're coming with us!"

The caged men and women howled out in protest.

"Silence!" Clarke screamed.

To her surprise, even the Alphas were quick to follow her orders. That was rare. Maybe, she wasn't just a leader to them anymore; maybe, she was someone they truly _respected_.

"She's helping us, so we shall repay the favor," Clarke said, turning to face each of the prisoners. "And no one shall harm her. An attack on her is an attack against me. Do I make myself clear?"

Silence.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

There were many grumbles of " _sha_ ".

"But I'm not like you guys," Maya suddenly said. "I'm not a-a-a wolf."

Clarke glared at her. "It doesn't matter! You saved my life and the people of Trikru always repay their debts!"

Maya narrowed her eyes. "They'll think my father had something to do with it if I go with you!"

"And your people will kill you when they find out you helped us!" Clarke argued. She didn't want her savior to die.

Before Maya could respond, Clarke punched her temple, knocking her unconscious. Clarke caught her and gently laid her down on the ground. She knew she would get an ear-full from the mountain girl when she woke up, but this was what's best for her. Sighing, Clarke then ran to the cage that held Octavia and began to unlock it as quick as she could.

* * *

 **The 100's parents/looks will be different, but their ages will remain the same.  
** **Anya – Clarke's mother  
** **Indra – Octavia and Bellamy's mother  
** **Gustus – Raven's father**


End file.
